He was, in a number of ways, a business entrepreneur before his time; and the events which unfurled after the fall of Clico and the CL Financial empire, proved he was over-adventurous in more than a few of the business decisions he made. However, Lawrence Duprey was undoubtedly one of the most forward-thinking business executives who pursued ventures in areas that others did not dare go.
What is certain is that he was intent on reaching beyond the core business left to him by his pioneering uncle, Cyril L Duprey. In fact, truth be recognised, Lawrence Duprey contemplated and attempted business possibilities beyond simply being the merchandising arm of overseas manufacturers.
The fact remains that Mr Duprey was in our time, a visionary business executive with operations not only spread across the Caribbean but into North America in different forms which were not conceived of by those who went before him and by many who came after.
However, while we focus at this point on Lawrence Duprey, the bold and adventurous business executive, we should also give another thought to his uncle, Cyril, who pioneered the life insurance industry in the 1940s, a time when only foreign-owned and managed insurance companies were involved in the industry. Therefore, in acknowledging the entrepreneurship and boldness of young Lawrence, we should also credit Cyril Duprey with the foresight and bravery which must have influenced his nephew to create a multi-billion dollar Trinidad and Tobago and Caribbean group of companies.
Having inherited Colonial Life, it would have been easy for Lawrence to stay exclusively with the insurance business, invest premiums paid by the insured in government bonds and the solid, non-adventurous and profitable import-export operations of the time.
He did not, however, play it safe and entered into a multiplicity of business ventures at home and abroad. That he took too many risks with new businesses which were not able to survive the changes in the international environment and the world economy when calamitous times emerged, became obvious when the crash sent many scampering.
The fact is that many of Duprey’s ventures failed and ultimately left exposed the bedrock of the Duprey business empire, Clico, to the calamity which eventually unfolded on policyholders and investors.
We do not seek to explain away and forgive without consideration the distress which befell tens of thousands of policyholders and investors, many of whom lost life savings and investments because of Lawrence Duprey’s failures and exaggerated, and, in some instances, unqualified risk-taking.
The full history of the Lawrence Duprey business adventures is yet to be comprehensively researched and assessed and so a final word cannot yet be conclusively said of him as an entrepreneur. What is known about him though, is that he was deeply involved in seeking to assist with the emergence of young people to escape the circumstances of their birth and environment.
He invested time and resources in the education and training of such persons through various endeavours outside of the core of his business and was generous in his funding and encouragement of them.
On occasion, this society is not sufficiently aware of and acknowledging of business entrepreneurs and their efforts. Lawrence Duprey through his successes, failures and controversies, however, cannot be ignored.
